Footwear.



L. E. WOLFF.

FOOTWEAR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.3, 1913.

1,1 20,353. Patented Dee. s, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SERV? L Fiyi L. E. WOLF?.

FOOTWEAR.

AYPLICATION FILED MAR-3 191LL 1,120,353 Patented D@C.8,1914.

2 SHEETS SHEET 2.

wl N D INVENTOF.

LOUIS EARNEST WOLFF, OF JOLIET, ILLINOIS.

FOQTWEAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

application 'sied Maron s, 191s. serial No. 751,917.

1'0 au 'whom z5 may concern:

Be it known that I, Louis E. lVVOLFF, a citizen of 'the United States, residing at Joliet, inA the'county of Will and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Footwear, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a boot or shoe in which the upper is made of leather, or other suitable flexible material, and the bottom portieri of metal; foot-Wear of this sort lieing Worn particularly by laborers, miners, foundryinen, and others doing rough Work likely to weer out or injure boots or slices `pf the ordinary sort. Q h

'The principal object of the invention is to `,provide a metal bottom shoe which will be very light and yet strong and durable, in which the Wearing parts can be easily re plac d and which, furthermore, will have a cons ruction Viving a maximum degree of comfort as w51 as Wearing qualities.

The invention consists in certain novel improvements and constructions, to be here- `inafter described and claimed, for carrying out these objects.

The invention is illustrated, in certain preferred constructions, in the accompanying drawings wherein- Figure 1 isA a view, in perspective, of a shoe employing one form of the invention; Fig. 2, a. sectional view taken on lino 2-*2 of Fig. l; Fig. 3, a plan view of the sole of the shoe; Fig. 4, a longitudinal section of the metal bottom of the shoe; Fig. 5, a modified form of metal bottom consisting of two parts hinged together; Fig. 6, a longitudinal sectional View of the construction shown in Fig. 5; Figs. 7, 8 and A9, views, in pon spective, of hard metal wearing elements employed in both forms of the invention illustrated in the preceding figures, and Fig. l0, a View, in perspective, of the insole heel plato. t

Lilie characters of reference designate like parts in the several figures ofi the drawings.

Referring i'irst to Figs. l to Li inclusive, and Figs. i' to l0 inclusi 5,25 designates the upper of the shoe which may be of any desired type and may be n` e of any suit-:ibis material such as leather r example, The bottoni of the shoe cons oi a single aluminum casting provided sito hard nietai Wearing elemeiits. The bottom may be said to comprise a sole 2C, a heel 27 and a vamp 28, these parts being integral one with the other and the 'sole preferably projecting beyond the Vamp las indicated at 26, The heel is hollow, vopen lat the top, and formed with lugs 29 lfor supporting the heel portion of the insole 30. The under 'surface of the heel is formed with the integral projection 31 which is preferably polygonal 1n its configuration. Secured to the undeisurface of the heel, by the screws 32, for example, is a Wear plate 33' (Fig. 7) having a central aperture 34 into which the projection 31 on the bottom of the heel fits. The Wear plate 33 is made of some metal harder than 'ahh` niinum such as cast iron, for example, and its Wearing surface is rou henod' in Isome manner, for example, by orming it with' the grooves 35. On the under side of the heel portion of the insole 30 is a metal plate 36 (Fig. I0), preferably made of aluminum and apertured for the sake of lightness, which is secured to the insole by rivets 37 and bears upon the lugs 29. The forward portion of the vamp 28 is bent over as indicated at 38 so as to provide a protecting vmetal toe cap. The upper is secured to the vamp in any suitable manner, for example,

by means of the rivets 39. Preferably these rivets extend through a reinforcin strip i() which extends around the shoe wit in the upper'. At the front end of the sole is a cast iron tip 4l (Fi 9) secured to the sole by the screws 42 an formed with a rim 43 which extends around and protects the forward portion of the aluminum sole. Preferably removable hard metal cleats 44 (Fig. 8) are secured to the tread portion of the sole. Similar cleats 45 may, if desired, be scoured to the arch of the sole. All of these hard metal Wearing elements arepreferahly attached to the aluminum casting which constitutes the body of the bottomv so that they may be readily replaced when worn or broken. The main portion of the bottom of the shoe is made of aluminum because of the lightness of this metal. The '-.vearing elements are preferably made of Cast iron or some other hard metal instead or" aluminum so as to gire the article the desired durabiiity.

A. modified construction is shown in Figs. and 6. ln this forni of the invention the metal bottom consists of a front portion 46 a back portion t7 which nre hinged together preferably by an ordinary butt hinge 48. The hinge is seated in recesses formedv in the inner sui-faces of the sole so as to be flush with said surfaces, and is secured to the front and had: portions of the bottom byv screws 49. Preferably the edge of the back portion of the bottom which bears against the lother member, is rounded as shown at 50 .(Fig. 6). In order to keep the two parts'of Athe bottom in alinement, ex cept when the shoevis flexed in walking, a

spring plate 51 is placed over theihin e 48.

5 and 6 the cleats 45 are omitted, the construction shown in the latter figures is the same as that shown in the first four figures,

and in the drawings the corresponding partsl are correspondingly numbered.

While I .have-described my invention in certain preferred constructions it will be understood that modifications' might be made without departure from the invention.

I claim: l

1. In a shoe, a cast aluminum bottom formed' with a hollow heel open at thef top, with its under surface and side portions integral, a vamp portion which is turned backwardly at the toe of the shoe to form a toc cap, and a sole which projects out beyond the vamp and toe providing the shoe with an extension sole, an insole, and.means for supporting the portion of the insole above the hollow heel portion of the bott-om.

2. A metallic bottom for a boot or shoe,

consisting o a casting forlning,the sole,

3. In a metallic bottom for boot or shoe,

Vthe combination with a casting which forms l the sole, vamp andhecl portions thereof, the

latter portion of which is hollow and open at the top, of an insole of soft material, and a metal plate secured to the under. side of the heel portion of said insole arranged to fit within the opening of the heel portion of said cast-ing.

LOUIS EAR'NEST l/VOLFF.

Witnesses r L. A. FALKENBERG, G. Y. SKINNER. 

